Stop & Shop supermarkets said Friday that stores in Johnston, Providence and Raynham are among 32 locations that will be closing this year.
Two of the stores closing are in Rhode Island, 11 Commerce Way in Johnston and company-owned Eastside Marketplace in Providence, while the store at 36 New State Highway in Raynham is the only one in Bristol County, Massachusetts, to be shuttered.
The company said the stores are anticipated to close on or before Nov. 2.
Stop & Shop announced earlier this year that it would close underperforming stores “to create a healthy base for the future growth of our brand.”
“Our associates are a strong community dedicated to growing and working together, and all of our store associates will continue to have a place in the Stop & Shop family as we look forward to serving customers at other nearby locations,” Gordon Reid, president of Stop & Shop, said in a statement.
“This store is dead,” admitted Ron Guerton about his home store in Johnston. “All the time, I mean just look around; this is a normal day.”
Some residents however, were stunned by the news.
“There are always a lot of people in there when I go in there,” explained Susan Hooker, of Providence. “I don’t know what their definition of underperforming is, but it’s just going to be a huge loss.”
Many residents speculate market saturation is what’s driving the supermarket out.
Within a one-mile radius of the Johnston location is an Aldi, BJ’s and Market Basket.
“Since Market Basket moved in they’ve been crushing them,” Dagraca added. “It’s sad because they’ve been here for so long. They were the best market here for many years…”
After the closures, Stop & Shop said it will operate more than 350 stores in five states, including 25 in Rhode Island, 115 in Massachusetts, 81 in Connecticut, 47 in New Jersey and 91 in New York.
The complete list of closures released by Stop & Shop:
Connecticut
100 Division St., Ansonia211 High St., Torrington (931 Torringford St., Torrington will remain open)1937 West Main St., Stamford (2200 Bedford St., Stamford will remain open)855 Bridgeport Ave., Milford (1360 East Town Road, Milford will remain open)72 Newtown Road, Danbury (44 Lake Avenue Ext., Danbury will remain open)
Massachusetts
932 North Montello St., Brockton36 New State Highway, Raynham341 Plymouth St., Halifax539-571 Boston Turnpike, Shrewsbury165 Needham St., Newton (bfresh Market)415 Cooley St., Springfield (1600 Boston Rd. and 1277 Liberty St., Springfield will remain open)545 Lincoln St. Worcester (940 West Boylston St. and 949 Grafton St., Worcester will remain open)24 Mattakeesett St., Pembroke (125 Church St., Pembroke will remain open)
New Jersey
1083 Inman Ave., Edison1049 US Highway 1 South, Edison4861 US Highway 9, Howell1278 US Highway 22, Phillipsburg581 Stelton Rd., Piscataway625 Paterson Ave., Carlstadt1221 State Route 27, Franklin Township130 Skyline Dr., Ringwood505 Richmond Ave, Point Pleasant Beach2275 West County Line Rd., Jackson
New York
2965 Cropsey Ave., Brooklyn130 Wheatley Plaza, Greenvale7 Samsondale Plaza, West Haverstraw294 Middle Country Road, Coram240 East Sanford Blvd., Mt. Vernon132 Fulton Ave., Hempstead2525 Hempstead Turnpike, East Meadow
Rhode Island
11 Commerce Way, Johnston176 Pittman St., Providence (Eastside Marketplace)
NBC 10’s Erin Coogan contributed to this report.
